Voorhees Township

Summary

Voorhees Township, Camden County, reported receiving 219,312.91 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2025. The money may be spent only on opioid remediation. Exhibit E of the national settlements lists uses in treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction. The list is not closed, but a use it does not name needs a documented, evidence-based program.

The Township's settlement spending account, G-02-41-735-001-302, paid 129,527.07 from 04/28/2025 through 05/27/2026. It had 156,193.00 left on that date.

The Township's FY2025 report to the Department of Human Services certifies the analyzer as a prevention program. It counts a journal posted after the year closed as spending in that year. Read the Township's findings.

The narcotics analyzer

Purchase order 25-00852, dated 03/06/2025, ships one item to the Voorhees Police Department. It is described as Narcotics Identification Equip, bought under NJ State Contract 17-FLEET-00741. Thermo's invoice bills a TruNarc unit with a three year warranty at 36,135.00 and a TruNarc Type H kit at 725.67. Check 72529 paid 36,860.67 on 04/28/2025.

The FY2025 report certifies a program named Narcotics Identification Equipment at 36,860.67. It names Thermo Scientific Portable as the recipient. It describes the program as the "Acquisition of a narcotics analyzer unit." It gives the primary category as Primary Prevention, Education, and Training. Its statement of impact is "Proper narcotics identification."

A handheld analyzer that identifies drugs is not prevention, education or training. No program using it to prevent misuse or treat anyone is documented. Certified a narcotics analyzer as prevention and training.

What the FY2025 report counted as spent

The FY2025 report covers 07/01/2024 to 06/30/2025. It certifies 55,277.07 expended.

The ledger captions journal 8170 "1/1 - 6/30 Opioid Training to Grant." The report certifies it as the VOA Arrive Together Program, recipient "Payroll," launched 01/01/2025. ARRIVE Together pairs a police officer with a mental health professional on patrol.

The worksheet behind the journal lists 25 overtime shifts of 8 hours each. The overtime registers give VOA ARRIVE as the reason for every one. None is recorded as training. Three lines on the worksheet are marked 2024 and total 1,704.24. The registers put those three officers on ARRIVE shifts on 12/03/2024, 12/10/2024 and 12/17/2024, before the launch date the report gives. Counted an August 2025 payroll journal as FY2025 spending.

All 25 charged shifts were worked inside the reporting period. The earliest is 12/03/2024.

Co-responder programs are among the uses Exhibit E lists. The records do not show whether this overtime was paid from the police budget before 2025. This project classifies the 18,416.40 as unverified.

The police dog

On 12/29/2025 the account paid Tarheel Canine Training 9,900.00 for one "Green Dual K9." The ledger line reads "New K9 (Opiod Funds)." The Township bought a police dog, Bruiser, from the same vendor in 2019 for 7,000.00. That purchase was charged to the Reserve for Law Enforcement Trust.

The Police Department proposal attached to the order is titled "Proposal for Implementation of a Police K9 Unit Subsidised by Opioid Settlement Funds." The first use case it lists is "Drug detection in high-risk areas, schools, and during vehicle or property searches."

The same day the account paid Voorhees Veterinary Center 1,500.00 for a year of care for the new dog, Creed. Five weeks earlier the Township paid the same 1,500.00 package for its other police dog, Denver, from the police K-9 Patrol line. In 2026 it paid 3,000.00 for both dogs from that police line. Bought a police dog and its vet care with settlement money.

No overdose, treatment or prevention program using the dog is documented. Police dogs are not among the uses Exhibit E lists.

Peer support training

A Police Department proposal dated 04/10/2025 asks to use opioid funds to train the Multi-Agency Police Peer Support Team, MAPPS. It says "The team has been in existence since 2020." It estimates a 40 hour course at 6,000.00.

The account paid Jennifer Kelly PhD, LLC 12,000.00 for a 32 hour MAPPS training in October 2025. Check 74099 was written for 12,534.00. The other 534.00 paid MAPPS 3rd quarter 2025 training from the police budget. The vendor history shows MAPPS charges on the police budget from 2021 onward.

Wellness services for officers who face trauma from opioid emergencies are among the uses Exhibit E lists. Whether this payment added to that program or replaced police spending is not shown. That the settlement money paid part of a program the police budget already carried is our inference. One check paid peer support training from two funds.

The officer course

Purchase order 25-01056 ordered 66 seats of "Operational Readiness for Police Officers," an opioid use disorder course, at 450.00, a total of 29,700.00. It was unpaid at 06/30/2025. The FY2025 report certifies 29,700.00 encumbered, the order to the cent. The Township paid 24,750.00 for 55 seats on 07/28/2025. In 2026 it paid 26,100.00 for 58 seats of the sequel. Training officers on the needs of people with opioid use disorder is among the uses Exhibit E lists. OUD course order ties to the certified encumbrance.

The Township also produced a police overtime report for 04/23/2025 to 05/09/2025. It lists eleven officers with four hours each under the reason "Opioid Settlement Funds." The comments include "OUD course" and "Online Opioid Training." A note reads "Previous Pay (already paid, just need to categorize)." The settlement account shows no charge for it. Which account paid it, and how much, is not in the records. Officer overtime to take the course was tagged to the fund.

Receipts and balances

The Township's revenue trail records four State checks totaling 44,349.17, the last on 06/26/2023. Every later credit is a budget reallocation. The FY2024 receipt figure of 85,471.37 equals the reallocation of 05/31/2024. The FY2025 figure of 84,365.22 equals six reallocations from 12/12/2024 to 06/30/2025. The FY2026 figure of 39,591.18 equals the three reallocations of 12/18/2025. The records do not show where the reallocated money came from. Reported receipts match reallocations, not State checks.

The FY2024 report certifies 134,947.69 received since 2022 and nothing spent. It certifies 210,230.69 unspent on hand, 75,283.00 more than it says it received. The FY2025 unspent figure of 162,580.84 does not follow from that report's own receipts and spending either. FY2024 report shows more unspent money than received.

FY2026

The FY2026 report covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 105,829.60 spent in three new programs, the K 9 program at 11,400.00, MAPPS Team Training at 12,000.00 and Z School at 82,429.60.

The other 13,163.20 of the certified figure is not on the books produced, which end on 05/27/2026. The Z School page says some of its costs were overtime for officers attending the classes.

The K 9 page names the dog plainly. It states the problem as "Opioid Detection K 9" and the purpose as "Acquire new K 9." It reports one person served, and its performance indicator is the new dog introduced to patrol operations. It files the program under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention. The dog and its vet care make the 11,400.00 to the cent. No overdose program using the dog is documented. Certified a new police dog as harm reduction.

What the Township Committee approved

Four resolutions put 146,260.38 of settlement money into the budget under the title "National Opioid Settlement Program." None names a program, a use, a recipient or a vendor. The Township produced no resolution approving the analyzer, the dog, the vet care, the training or the payroll journal. Resolutions appropriate lump sums and name no use.

What should happen

The analyzer, the dog and its vet care total 48,260.67. The Township told the State the analyzer was prevention and training. The dog and its care replaced costs the Township paid from police accounts. No abatement program using the analyzer or the dog is documented. The Township can restore that money to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program.

The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports, who prepared them, and what records support them.

How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.